Amber alert suspect convicted of felony

Firefighters fight a fire the Anchorage Mobile Home Park in Panama City in March of 2012.

Andrew Wardlow/ News Herald file photo

By CHRIS OLWELL / The News Herald

Published: Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 08:19 PM.

PANAMA CITY — The man who triggered an Amber Alert last spring after he allegedly set his home on fire and rode off on a bicycle with his 3-year-old son has been convicted of attempted child abuse by a Bay County jury.

But the jury also had good news 29-year-old Johnathan Byers; he was acquitted of arson and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and convicted only of attempted child abuse rather than child abuse, which is how he was charged.

Byers was arrested March 9, 2012 after taking a small boat from St. Andrews Marina and subsequently sinking it near Gracie Rae’s. When the boat sank, Byers appeared to be clinging to his son’s life preserver in order to keep his head above water, which pulled the child deeper into the water, according to court records. A bystander pulled Byers and his son out of the water and brought them to shore where police were waiting for him.

A crowd onshore cheered the rescue, and Byers reportedly took a bow.

Before his arrest, he was seen by neighbors riding away from his West 19th Street mobile home, which became engulfed in flames moments later, with his son on the handlebars, after an argument with the child’s mother. The home was a total loss.

Arson investigators with the State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the blaze and determined it started simultaneously in two locations. The fire had been intentionally set, according to court records.

The child’s mother testified during the first day of the trial that her son was not physically injured during the incident, but he tells other children that his father set their house on fire.

PANAMA CITY — The man who triggered an Amber Alert last spring after he allegedly set his home on fire and rode off on a bicycle with his 3-year-old son has been convicted of attempted child abuse by a Bay County jury.

But the jury also had good news 29-year-old Johnathan Byers; he was acquitted of arson and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and convicted only of attempted child abuse rather than child abuse, which is how he was charged.

Byers was arrested March 9, 2012 after taking a small boat from St. Andrews Marina and subsequently sinking it near Gracie Rae’s. When the boat sank, Byers appeared to be clinging to his son’s life preserver in order to keep his head above water, which pulled the child deeper into the water, according to court records. A bystander pulled Byers and his son out of the water and brought them to shore where police were waiting for him.

A crowd onshore cheered the rescue, and Byers reportedly took a bow.

Before his arrest, he was seen by neighbors riding away from his West 19th Street mobile home, which became engulfed in flames moments later, with his son on the handlebars, after an argument with the child’s mother. The home was a total loss.

Arson investigators with the State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the blaze and determined it started simultaneously in two locations. The fire had been intentionally set, according to court records.

The child’s mother testified during the first day of the trial that her son was not physically injured during the incident, but he tells other children that his father set their house on fire.

Judge James Fensom scheduled a sentencing hearing for on March 15 at the conclusion of Byer’s two-day trial. He faces up to five years in prison.

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